working memory

Working Memory is the ability to hold information active in your brain for a short period of time, whilst performing other tasks, and to be able to pick up where you left off when you return to it. Working memory can be commonly confused with short term memory. Short term memory refers to the short term information required for a verbal or visual task (e.g. remembering a phone number, blending sounds into words when reading, remembering objects, colours, location, direction). Working memory involves the manipulation and transformation of verbal and visual information (e.g. remembering a full set of instructions and then carrying them out, keeping your place on the page when reading, reverse sequences of objects/numbers/directions).

Working memory is an important part of executive function and is closely linked to our senses. We use working memory to meaningfully participate in everyday skills such as:

• Responding appropriately when having a conversation.
• Carrying out instructions.
• Reading an unknown word.
• Paraphrasing spoken information (e.g. repeating back information heard/ instructions to clarify).
• Answering questions and remembering what to say when it's your turn to talk (in class, conversation).
• Daily organisation.
• Problem solving.
• Reading comprehension.
• Doing maths in your head.

If someone has difficulties with working memory difficulties they might:

• Have difficulty organising/completing a task with multiple steps (i.e. they often stop, or they lose their place).
• Miss details in instructions and fail to keep track of where they are up to with demanding activities.
• Make mistakes in writing like omitting words, or repeating words.
• Make mistakes when counting or lose track of sequences, and then have to start again.
• Are easily distracted when not highly interested in an activity.
• Find it difficult to wait for their turn (e.g. will interrupt or ask a question and then forget what to say when called upon).
• Have poor organisation skills (e.g. loses belongings easily, loses their place when organising a task with multiple steps).
• Have difficulties with reading (e.g. struggle to keep track of their place when reading, struggle to use contextual cues to support word prediction when reading, find it hard to break down sounds in words but then unable to blend the sounds into the word accurately).
• Demonstrate difficulties with maths calculations in their head.
• Find complex problem solving challenging. Can't figure out what the question is asking them to do. Can't determine which operator to use. Fails to include relevant information. Can't eliminate unnecessary information.
• Show slow progress despite working really hard (i.e. it's not a problem of effort, it's just that they can't hold onto information long enough to manipulate and process it).
• Have difficulty starting or completing their work independently – may rely on others to keep them on track and remind of the current task.

We can reduce working memory load (sometimes referred to as cognitive load):

• Break tasks into simple steps: Provide short, simple instructions and make sure the child has mastered the first step before going onto the next.
• Use simple language: Use clear, specific language when making requests and, if necessary, show them what you want them to do.
• Repeat instructions: When you have given an instruction to a child, encourage them to repeat it back to you to ensure that the child has grasped/understood what is expected.
• Repeat activities: Complete repetitions of new activities to ensure the child has mastered the task. A child with poor working memory will require much more repetition to learn a new task than other children.
• Use visuals and gesture: Use visuals to assist the child remember the steps involved in a task (e.g. morning routine).
• Eye contact: Get close to the child to ensure they are able to hear you and see your face; get down to their level.
• Slow the pace: Slow the pace in challenging activities to allow the child time to process and complete the activity.
• Reduce background noise and distractions: to help a child to maintain attention long enough to obtain the information required to complete a task. Reducing distractions lessens the amount of information the child has to process.
• Recognise what you are assessing, be goal specific – focus on the target at hand rather than multiple targets at once (eg. spelling test – focus on spelling only rather than spelling and letter formation. Instead have the letters presented visually to make the information easily accessible which will then allow the child to focus only on spelling and not remembering how to form the letters as well).
• Connecting information to things your child already knows can help them remember things better.
• Engage other senses: use multisensory learning to help information "stick" 
• Build rhythm, routine and ritual into the child's life - external order creates internal order.
• Use working memory aids when completing cognitively demanding tasks to spread the cognitive load (eg. checklists, a sequence of steps, an anchor chart to refer back to, a vocabulary list, a times table chart)

Advocate strongly for the use of academic accommodations - we would not ask a child with a broken leg to run a race, so why is it okay to ask a child with a known working memory deficit complete a cognitively demanding task without appropriate supports.